Top Common Cards in M10 for Pauper Magic

I play a bit of Standard Pauper Magic using Magic Online. Pauper is a format where only cards printed at common rarity are allowed. It is a fun format that is well balanced, competitive, fun and very inexpensive (a winning Standard Pauper deck costs $1-$2). MTGO costs $10 to start up (you get $10 worth of credit to buy cards with though when you start) and is free to play after that. The Pauper community is also very active on MTGO with tournaments almost every day in different formats. In fact, recently pauper has become an officially recognized format on MTGO. There are 2 weekly Standard Format tournaments with about 30-40 players in each.

With a new core set coming out soon, I thought I would do a review of some cards from the position of a Standard Pauper player and talk about my top 10 cards from M10. So, in order of collectors number, here are my top 10 picks for M10.

Soul Warden
Creature - Human Cleric
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
#34/249	1/1

Essence Warden was played with token decks. Getting 1 life with every creature (including your opponents) is a great ability. With Soul Warden moving from uncommon to common, this card may see play in a UW control deck.

Veteran Armorsmith
Creature - Human Soldier
Other Soldier creatures you control get +0/+1.
"Courage is a proud and gleaming shield. It does not bend or hide from sight. To fight with courage, we must forge in steel."
Illus. Michael Komarck	2/3

2/3 for 2 is very good good and it has a great ability to boot. Veteran Armorsmith works great with aggressive cards like Aven Squire. M10 is definitely pushing the soldier archetype for limited by printing tons of efficient soldier creatures which translate well into pauper.

Essence Scatter
Instant
Counter target creature spell.
Some wizards compete not to summon the most interesting creatures, but to create the most interesting aftereffects when a summons goes awry.
Illus. John Foster #51/249

Pauper is filled with creature based decks so this card will almost always be usable. Remove soul is highly useful and I am sure it will continue to be with this functional reprint.

Illusionary Servant
Creature - Illusion
Flying When Illusionary Servant becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
"Illusion is a handy but fragile medium. Use it only in a pinch, or against the dim-witted." - Jace Beleren
Illus. Dave Kendall	3/4

3 mana gets you a 2/2 flier which will die to almost any effect that would target Illusionary Servant. The worst situation is probably dying from the -3/0 half of Agony Warp, but Agony Warp 2 for 1’s during combat anyway.

Ponder
Sorcery
Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order. You may shuffle your library. Draw a card.
#68/249

Not too many cards get restricted in vintage and ponder is one of them. While pauper and vintage are 2 very different formats, any card on the same list as Sol Ring, Black Lotus or Ancestral Recall is definitely good enough for pauper. Ponder is a great card and will continue to be in Pauper.

Doom Blade
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature.

Artifacts are well represented in pauper and regeneration is almost nonexistent (though may be reintroduced soon) so Doom Blade appears to be an improvement over Terror in Pauper. The only reason I don’t like this card is because I will no longer be able to play with my text-less Terrors.

Sign in Blood
Sorcery
Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
“You know I accept only one currency here, and yet you have sought me out. Why now do you hesitate?” - Xathrid demon
Illus. Howard Lyon

Night’s Whisper would probably have been better than this card for pauper since double black can be hard to cast in a format with 90% basic lands. However a card with this power level at common should see play and may allow a mono black control deck to arise with Tendrils of Corruption.

Vampire Aristocrat
Creature - Vampire Rogue
Sacrifice a creature: Vampire Aristocrat gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
#117/249	2/2

Almost a functional reprint of Nantuko Husk (a card which while standard legal isn’t pauper legal because it is an uncommon), this card should open up some new archetypes for pauper though will be weaker with the M10 rules changes regarding stacked damage.

Lightning Bolt
Instant
Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Illus. Christopher Moeller

Shock is heavily played and Lightning Bolt will be too. I don’t expect this card will be too format warping since 3 toughness creatures are already susceptible to agony warp or nameless inversion but it has the potential to create huge change.

Terramorphic Expanse
Land
, Sacrifice Terramorphic Expanse: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.

One of the best lands in the format. Terramorphic Expanse is played in almost every Pauper deck. This card will continue to be useful in future decks.

Honorable Mentions:

Veteran Swordsmith
Creature - Human Soldier
Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+0.
"Truth is a straight, keen edge. There are no soft angles or rounded edges. To fight for truth, we must forge in steel."
Illus. Michael Komarck	3/2

Zephyr Sprite
Creature - Faerie
Flying
"I've never understood why so many beings lumber around on the ground. There are three dimensions, yet they use only two."
Illus. Kev Walker	1/1

Duress
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Gravedigger
Creature - Zombie
When Gravedigger enters the battlefield, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
	2/2

Jackal Familiar
Creature - Hound
Jackal Familiar can’t attack or block alone.
"Let the gray-hairs keep their ravens and drakes. My familiar will be a reflection of me: bloodthirsty, with a predator’s instinct." - Taivang, barbarian warlord
Illus. Alex Horley-Orlandelli	2/2

Borderland Ranger
Creature - Human Scout
When Borderland Ranger enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
"Only fools and bandits use roads."
Illus. Jesper Ejsing	2/2